Welcome to the Darien Junior Football League’s 2018 season. We are looking forward to another fun, exciting and safe year. The DJFL is a non-profit organization run by volunteers. We are part of the Fairfield County Football League (FCFL). The tackle football league consists of teams from New Canaan, Westport, Fairfield, Ridgefield, Weston and Wilton. Our flag football program consists of players only from Darien.

REGISTER BY MAY 15th AND SAVE $100

TO SAVE MONEY, PLEASE READ ALL THE INFORMATION BELOW AND FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS EXACTLY AS THEY ARE OUTLINED: NO EXCEPTIONS.

INTRODUCTION

NOTE: All DJFL Programs are for DARIEN, CT, residents only.

All Darien junior tackle football grades (grades 3-8) are travel teams in the Fairfield County Football League. As such, a significant time commitment is required; there are usually three practices per week and one game on each weekend. Parents should factor this time commitment into their decision to enroll their son or daughter into tackle football. Although we encourage our young athletes to play other fall sports, for safety reasons we ask you to recognize the significant time commitment tackle football requires. Football is a team sport that requires reinforcement of fundamental skills and player responsibilities. Therefore, playing time will be commensurate with practice time.

The time commitment for flag football (grades 1-3) is less than tackle football; participants should expect to practice once a week, but practice time will vary depending on the coach. Flag football is a house league and games are played Saturday mornings at Hindley School with only Darien children. Building on the success from last season, the flag program will continue to be separated into three divisions--one each for 1st, 2nd and 3rd grades. Third grade players have the option of playing either 3rd grade flag or 3rd grade tackle football, but they cannot participate in both programs.

See the website for a planning calendar to assist you with key dates—you will find this updated during the season on the website. We will make every effort to update the website throughout the season for all relevant issues. The tackle Jamboree will be the weekend of August 25/26th and attendance is mandatory for all teams. The start of the tackle season games is the weekend of September 1st. For this reason, we ask that you plan your summer vacations accordingly so players will not miss the start of the first week of practice (August 13th)—head coaches will need to evaluate all players during the first week in order to break into teams.

It is important that you read this entire letter in order to eliminate higher costs due to missing key dates. There will be no exceptions to our policies, so please be prepared with the paperwork completed in order to take advantage of the lower rates offered.

We encourage everyone to register online but for those who are more comfortable using the United States Postal Service or a fax machine, you can still register via these methods. All registration forms are included in this package and also are on the website. If you decide to register by mail, please print all the forms and mail or fax just the registration form to the address printed in the packet along with your check/credit card info. Payment must accompany your registration.

We urge you to register early in order to secure your child’s spot. Anyone who registers for tackle after July 31st will be put on a waiting list. We will accept late registrations only if space is available.

TACKLE EQUIPMENT PICKUP

PLEASE NOTE THERE WILL BE ONLYTWO EQUIPMENT PICKUPS: May 23rd and June 4th. On Wednesday May 23rd, pickup for all tackle players is from 7:00 - 9:00 PM. On Monday June 4th, pickup for all tackle players is from 7:30 - 9:00 PM. Equipment Pickup takes place in the cafeteria at Darien High School. All players MUST pick up their equipment at one of these two scheduled dates. IF EQUIPMENT IS NOT PICKED UP IN MAY OR JUNE THERE WILL BE A $200 LATE FEE TO P/U EQUIPMENT JUST PRIOR TO THE SEASON BEGINNING. WE WILL NO LONGER HAVE AN ADDITIONAL LATE PICK UP IN AUGUST. PLEASE BE SURE TO BE AT THE MAY OR JUNE PICK UP.

Since equipment needs to be properly fitted for safety purposes, NO equipment will be handed out unless the player is present AND ALL of the following completed forms and fees have been submitted for each player:

Season Agreement/Questionnaire form signed (6 page form submitted at equipment pickup for tackle and team selection for flag--if you register online, the form is included in your online registration)

State Concussion Protocol Form signed (if you register online, the form is included in your online registration)

Medical form completed (submitted at equipment pickup for tackle)—please note that we no longer accept anything but the official DJFL Medical Form with a Doctor’s Stamp. All others will be turned away (The Medical Form is not mandatory for Flag)

The DJFL is pleased to continue our policy of supporting all town of Darien public employees (paid and volunteer). For 2018, you must register and pick up your equipment by June 4, 2018 in order to qualify for the reduced rate that will be only $125 for registration fee along with the equipment deposit check. If you are registering online, please indicate your job in town and then skip the payments page and send an email to
. Our website assistant will code your registration accordingly so that you can make payment.

NEEDS BASED SCHOLARSHIPS

The DJFL understands there may be special needs in certain families that may result in children needing scholarship assistance with registration fees. Any applicants wishing to apply for the scholarship should email our Treasurer, Patrick Spellman, at
. We will keep all scholarship requests in the strictest confidence. Note that all scholarships will still require a $125 registration fee as well as an equipment deposit for equipment for tackle players.

CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE DJFL

The DJFL is dedicated to providing an athletic experience to as many young people as possible. We make every effort to keep our fees as low as possible. This year, again we are asking for donations, half of which will go to our scholarship fund. Every year, we award college scholarships for DHS seniors who were former DJFL players. The other half of the donations are used to improve the DJFL program with such things as field upgrades and new equipment. In addition, over the years DJFL has made contributions to various other programs to improve the experience for all of Darien’s football players.
Thank you and have a great summer. We look forward to a great 2018 football season.